Counting the Distance
by RZZMG
Summary: From the tender age of ten, Theodore Nott has been in love with his infuriating best friend, Draco Malfoy. At 20, he decides he's had enough of watching Draco slag around, and decides to do something about his lust for the man. But can he keep his heart distant enough from the sex come the morning after? Drama/Romance/Angst. Draco x Theo slash. 2012 HP-Sexstars Fest entry.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**This was my 2012 HP-Sexstars Fic (hp-sexstars . livejournal . com) entry. The fest is over and reveals are out, so now I can post this for you here. This fanfic is ****finished, and I will put a new chapter up every few days.****  
**

**My prompt for the fest was: **_Paying an "expert" to lose one's virginity. The number ten.__  
_

**A very grateful 'thank you' goes out to my beta, drarryxlover, who provided such excellent feedback and help! ****Thank you to the HP-Sexstars mod for running this wonderful fest!**

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**DISCLAIMER: **"Harry Potter" is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This fanfiction was written entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended.

**TIMELINE:** Begins Pre-Hogwarts (1990), and ends Post-Hogwarts (no date given, as it's a spoiler). Alternate Universe (no Voldemort resurrection, no DeathEater!Draco, no war).

**CHARACTERS FEATURED (alphabetical order, last name):** Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott

**SUMMARY:** From the tender age of ten-years-old, Theodore Nott has been in love with his infuriating best friend, Draco Malfoy. At twenty, he decides he's had enough of watching Draco slag around, and decides to finally do something about his own lust for the man, offering Draco money in exchange for sex. But can he keep his heart distant enough from the act so, come the morning after, he won't be completely devastated?

**RATING: **R (M)

**WARNINGS:** Implied homosexual sex - including loss of virginity and Dom/sub relationship dynamics (off-screen); Frotting; Groping; Kissing; Naughty teasing; Explicit profanity; Purchasing sexual favours; Angst-Angst-Angst; Happy Ending

**EXTRA NOTES:** Chapter break titles come from a Nickleback song of the same name ("S.E.X."). For the sake of this fic, I'm saying that Galleons come in denominations of 1, 10, 100, and 1000 marks, because it seems silly to me that anyone would carry a giant satchel full of coins just to go out shopping, when they could carry a small pouch instead (you'd think the Goblins would have figured out the economic advantage of decimalizing large coinage by now, anyway)._  
_

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**_COUNTING THE DISTANCE_**

**BY RZZMG**

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**X~~~~~X**

**'S' is for the simple need.**

**X~~~~~X**

_**10 October, 1990**_

"That's mine. Give it back!" Theodore growled, reaching for the big, green marble that Draco had swiped from the ground at the conclusion of their game.

His best friend pulled his hand out of reach at the last possible second in a swift move, hiding the marble behind his back in a closed fist. "Means a lot to you, does it?" Draco taunted, knowing that the smooth jade shooter did, in fact, mean the world to Theodore. It was one of the last gifts his mother had given him just before her death. "I've decided to keep it. You owe me a birthday gift from June."

"Hey, you owe me one, too! My birthday was just last month," Theodore pointed out. "And since I'm older-"

"By a measly ten months," Draco pointed out, offended at the idea that anyone could lord anything over him, even something as unplanned as a birthday.

"To the day," Theodore reminded him with a snap of his jaw. "I'm ten months older _to the day._" For some reason that seemed very important to remind his friend of just then, adding insult to injury.

Draco shrugged as if he didn't care, when in fact Theodore knew his friend did care very much. The blond boy tossed the heavy, round weight into the air and caught it effortlessly in a fast snatch-and-grab. "Whatever. You still owe me a gift. I think I'll take this marble. I rather like the colour."

Theodore growled at him. "It's mine. Give it here, or I'll punch you out!"

Through dark gold lashes, his best friend appraised him. "You want it back? What'll you give me for it?"

Angry that Draco would dare steal his most prized possession, Theodore bunched up his fists and swung, intending to knock his friend to his arse and take back what was his. He missed by a mile, however, as Draco smoothly danced out of the way with the speed and agility of a fox.

Knowing this game between them couldn't be won with force, as Draco was both faster and stronger than he, Theodore instead turned to secondary measures to achieve his aims. "All right, what do you want?" he asked.

Draco's right eyebrow twitched with interest, and his smug smile reflected triumph. "What have you got to trade?"

Theodore shoved his hand in his trouser pocket and pulled out the contents. He opened his palm to let his playmate see. Draco inventoried them aloud.

"A stone from the garden, a Chocolate Frog card of Parasausus-"

"That's Paracelsus," Theodore corrected him in a small huff. It _was_ his favourite card, after all.

Draco grinned at him. "Whatever." He looked back at the small pile of goodies. "Three Bertie Bott's Beans covered in lint, and... how many Sickles have you got there?"

"Ten."

Theodore's friend seemed to consider what he wanted from the lot. "I'll take the Sickles," he finally decided. He stepped closer and held an empty palm out, expecting the trade. "Count them as you put them in my hand."

Theodore did as he was bade, making sure each coin clinked against the others as he set it into his friend's hand. When he was done, he held out his own empty hand. "Now, give it here."

Before he could move to counter, Draco grabbed his wrist and pulled with strength, throwing Theodore off-balance. Draco's arms came around him as he caught him, and they both tumbled to the magically-grown grass that lined the conservatory floor. Theodore landed on his back with force, and all of the air was knocked from his lungs in a powerful whoosh. Tears stung his eyes from the pain, but before he could snarl a protest, Draco had ducked his head down and quickly pressed his lips to the corner of Theodore's own, bestowing an innocent kiss.

"That's one," Draco stated with a smirk.

Theodore blinked.

_Eh? One what?_

Angry at being toppled, Theodore used his hips and rolled them. The ten Sickles he'd had to pay to retrieve his beloved marble flew into the air and rained down upon them both. He paid them no attention, instead slamming Draco's wrists down into the soft lawn, pinning his friend in place.

"Gotcha!"he exclaimed with a victorious huff.

Draco lay still under him, a halo of silvery coins and the green grass framing his sugar-white hair, and he stared up at Theodore in surprise. Slowly, that astonishment morphed into amusement. "I don't mind," he replied with a grin.

Astonished that his friend had yielded so easily, Theodore's grip relaxed, and he'd lifted his hips off of Draco's stomach to keep from squashing the conquered boy under him. That consideration given in the spirit of fair play proved to be a mistake; Draco took full advantage of the slackened hold and knocked Theodore back and off him with a mighty shove.

Scrambling to his feet, Draco glanced down at him with an arrogant smirk. "In the end, I always win, though," he said with all princely assurance. Then, turning, he ran like the wind towards the conservatory exit, his clothing as grass-stained and rumpled as Theodore was sure his was. "Last one to the study is a rotten Ashwinder egg!" Draco called out over his shoulder, laughing.

"You dirty cheat!" Theodore shouted after his friend, taking off in the hopes that he could eventually catch up. He had shorter legs than Draco, so the distance would be difficult to close, especially with his friend's head-start. But, if there was one thing Theodore knew, it was that he had better endurance than Draco.

He'd catch up in no time, and when he did, he was going to knock Draco on his arse.

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_**TO BE CONTINUED...**_

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**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**X~~~~~X**

**'E' is for the ecstasy.**

**X~~~~~X**

_**10 October, 2000**_

Theodore shifted with nervousness in the antique Victorian leather armchair, careful to balance his tumbler of Firewhisky in one hand so as not to spill the spirit all over the priceless Aubusson carpet under his feet.

He and Draco had been friends for the entirety of their lives, but this was only the second time he'd been in the Master's Study. The first time, he'd chased Draco in here after an argument when they'd both been ten, and his friend had taken his favourite marble captive, demanding ransom. Lucius had been working behind his desk as they'd run shouting and laughing into the room. The moment they'd spied the older wizard stand to his full height behind his ancient, oak desk, both boys had immediately frozen in place and shut their mouths. Draco's father had taken one disapproving look at their torn and ruined clothing, and pronounced them both a filthy disaster. He'd sent them up to Draco's room to change into clean clothing and wash up, with an order for them to 'behave like civilized young men'. The boys had left the room with their tails tucked firmly between their legs, their earlier joviality quashed by the harsh censure.

Now, a decade later, Theodore was once more in this room, his heart drumming out a riotous beat under his ribs. This time, however, the elder Malfoy wasn't the one responsible for the roiling in his stomach and the sweat that dotted his top lip.

"If you don't mind, could you please repeat that last bit, Theo?" Draco teased him. "I'm afraid the acoustics in this old room are terrible."

Under his breath, Theodore swore. The bloody arse knew damned well what had been asked of him. Draco was just taking the piss now.

"I asked... that is..." Theodore paused to clear his throat, and yanked at the top button of his dress shirt to loosen it. "I said I'd like to employ you to take my virginity and to teach me about sex, properly. Tonight, if you've the time. I've brought money, and I think you'll find the sum to be... quite generous."

A sly grin crept up the side of Draco's cheek, and Theodore knew –just knew– that his best friend was about to say something wholly improper and completely inappropriate. He steeled himself for the inevitable mockery.

"You want me to pop your cherry 'properly', you say? So, indecent and unseemly don't do it for you, then?"

Rolling his eyes, Theodore glared at the man.

Draco ignored the silent censure and lay on the velvet-covered chaise nearby, crossing his ankles in a lazy pose that intentionally showed off the bulge in his trousers.

"How about filthy and shocking, instead? I do both of those quite well, I'm told."

Theodore sighed, and took a long draw on his drink, keeping his temper in check. Draco, the Ever-Irreverent, was well on his way to receiving a black eye for his efforts, if he continued on this line of ridiculousness.

Of course, Theodore was now counting on that same flippant attitude to get him exactly what he'd always wanted: a night in the bed of the man he'd been in love with since his third year at Hogwarts. And he was willing to break his own bank to get there, throwing his last Galleon to the offer, if need be.

The idea of offering Draco money in exchange for bedroom favours wasn't a novel one, by any means, as it had been something of a joke around the dorms when they'd been growing up that Draco would do anything sexual, as long as he'd been well-paid for his services. His exploits had been famous: wanking off in McGonagall's class in fourth year, seducing Zabini on a bet with Pansy, and then taking the witch's virginity as his due when he'd succeeded, and even winning that outrageous bet with Hestia and Flora Carrow to fuck Millicent 'The Toad' Bulstrode, 'Iron-Knickers' Granger, and Mandy "Looks Like Candy, Tastes Like Fanny" Brocklehurst in seventh year. Winning _that_ bet had rewarded Draco with 'sharing' the twins for a whole weekend, and the ensuing orgy as the girls' roommates became involved in the fun had become the stuff of Slytherin House legend.

In the two years and five months since they'd graduated Hogwarts, Draco's penchant for indulging in debauched sensuality had never diminished; in fact, quite the opposite, heading more into the realm of the ludicrous. The man had, quite literally, done everything there was to do with another human being. He'd also let a female Veela fuck him into insensibility during their mating season just to try it out, consented to a sea nymph _and_ her brother having at him at the same time, and had had sex with various magical creatures that could shape-shift to humanoid form upon command, the most bizarre of them being a Nāga while on holiday in India.

Draco's parents knew of his degeneracy, of course, but they'd chosen to ignore their son's bizarre appetites as long as said frivolities remained out of the sight and knowledge of the press... until lately, that was. Lucius and Narcissa had been, in recent months, become more vocal regarding their only child's settling down and beginning a family with the girl he'd been betrothed to since his eighth birthday: Astoria Greengrass. Citing the need for an heir before Draco hit a quarter-century old, Lucius had even begun cutting his son's funds off a bit at a time to push him in such a direction. Consequently, Theodore knew Draco would consider his proposition with favour, as ten-thousand Galleons was enough to keep even his best friend in his preferred type of mischief for at least another three years, staving off the inevitable loss of his bachelorhood.

And of course, the bonus would be that Theodore would not only rid himself of his unwanted virginity, but he'd be with the one wizard he'd always wanted, even if it was only for one night. Everyone else in the world had fucked Draco, so why not him? Why had he been the only one kept at arm's length?

"Yes, yes. Your friends and family are all quite aware of your hedonistic tendencies," Theodore growled in response to his friend's boast. "Why do you think I've come to you for something this important?"

Draco pulled no punches when he replied, "Because you know I'd make your first time unforgettable... and you're in love with me."

Theodore's heart stopped.

_Oh, shit._

In all the scenarios he'd run through his head regarding their conversation tonight, being found out was the one thing he hadn't anticipated.

Hiring Draco to initiate him into sex could always have been later explained away as mere curiosity and wanting to get the job done right. Deeper emotions wouldn't have been part of the equation – at least on the surface – and that meant there could be no exploitation or pity later. But now Theodore wouldn't even have that lie for protection, because Draco knew. He _knew._

The room began to spin.

The bottom fell out of his pride.

There was no saving the carpet this time, as his glass slipped out of his trembling hand and tumbled to the floor, its precious contents lost to the rug.

He turned his face away, shame and embarrassment warring for placement upon his cheeks. Theodore had always thought himself very careful at hiding his feelings. From the moment he'd hit puberty and realised he was as gay as a young Jay in May, and that Draco was the reason, Theodore had practiced keeping his reactions under control where his friend was concerned. Somewhere along the line, he'd slipped up, though. Perhaps his expressions were less restrained than he'd believed. Perhaps he'd let his eyes linger over his friend's face or body just a little too long at some point, and Draco had seen.

_Gods, how long had he known?_

For several minutes, he couldn't speak, and Draco didn't seem in the least bit inclined to fill the space or to distract from the conversation by cleaning up the mess that lay between them. Theodore knew his friend was waiting for an answer to his accusation, his patience endless, his focus that of a snake, ferreting out prey.

"T-this was a… a mistake," he finally said, mortified to the very thick of his bones at the quiver in his voice. "Forget the entire conversation. It was a... a foolish idea." On shaky knees, he got to his feet and made haste for the door. His emotions were a jumbled riot, burning a hole through his guts.

He reached for the brass handle, turned and pulled, but it did not give way. He tried again with the same results... finally recognising the futility: clearly, Draco had magically locked the door. _When?_ No spell had been cast aloud, and Theodore knew his friend wasn't that powerful with non-verbal spells. Had he done it under his breath when they'd entered the room? It seemed the only possible explanation. Why would he do such a thing? Had Draco intended to ambush him, or was it just a typical privacy precaution?

He reached for his wand in the inner pocket of his robes, but was stopped before his fingers could curl around the Elm wood rod by his friend's body suddenly pressing into him from behind. Sinuously weaving his arms about Theodore's middle, Draco's elegant hands trapped him, and he was pulled off balance, forced to lean into Draco's more powerfully-built body.

"Do you know how long I've resisted this?" his friend whispered in his ear. "Resisted _you?"_

His heart exploded into a violent rhythm, and Theodore's whole frame began shaking, his emotional control hanging by a thread. "Don't," he choked out in an anguished whisper. "Don't lie to save my pride. This isn't a game to me."

His friend's lips buzzed over the whorl of his ear, breathing hot air against his sensitive skin. It felt _so_ good...

"It's not a game to me either, Theo." He rubbed his lips over Theodore's flesh, burning him with the barest of touches. "For years, I've avoided touching you too much, afraid of doing something rash and ruining what we have, but now… bloody hell, you've come to me, offering me the one thing I've wanted for so long." He paused to press a small kiss to the throbbing pulse point in Theodore's neck. "I should tell you 'no'. For the sake of our friendship, I should let you walk out and pretend this never happened, like you want, but… I won't. I can't. I'm too much of a selfish bastard."

With deft fingers, he slipped his hands into Theodore's robes, finding the inner pocket near his heart and withdrawing the velvet coin pouch he'd brought for the occasion. "Open it," Draco bid in a sultry whisper, his mouth still pressed to Theodore's ear. When he hesitated, Draco pressed his hips closer, rubbing a sizable erection between the cheeks of Theodore's arse. "Do it. Open it and take the coins out. Hold them in your hand."

Draco's words held a compelling charm to them, and before he knew it, Theodore had done as Draco had asked, holding the stack of one-thousand-mark Galleons in his hand. There were ten of them in total, and they were all that remained of his inheritance, left to him in his mother's Will when she'd passed. Working at Ollivander's, learning the craft of wand-making while inventorying stock, had paid the rent on his one-bedroom flat, but his personal dreams for a future came with a small cottage on the beach. He'd been saving his inheritance for a down-payment on that ambition, knowing that there was absolutely no going back to Nott Manor after 'coming out' to this father two years ago and being repudiated of any connection to his family's legacy as a result.

Tonight, he was going to throw that goal away, investing instead on a reckless, irrational scheme that had absolutely no chance of being anything more than just a regretful one-off. Gods, did he really want to do this? He'd thought he'd prepared himself for the reality of the situation –_rented sex_– but now that it had come to it...

Dropping the coin purse, Draco held out his palm. "Give me the first one, and tell me what you want to buy with it."

Theodore's breath caught in his chest, remembering how Draco had forced him to do something similar when they'd been children... Slytherin's rod, they were really doing this, weren't they? Theodore was going to go through with it, and damned the consequences.

He imagined his ancestors collectively rolling over in their graves as he placed the first coin in Draco's hand and told him his leading desire.

"I want you to kiss me."

"Just a single kiss?" his friend teased, his smile stretching wide as he rubbed his lips over Theodore's pulse. "I've given you that once before. Remember? Or, do you mean a _real _kiss on the mouth, with tongue, wet and open and… filthy?"

Trembling, Theodore nodded. "I want it like that."

"For a thousand Galleons, why not a dozen such kisses? Or a hundred?" his friend encouraged.

Feeling empowered by Draco's logic, Theodore nodded. "A whole night's worth of kisses, then. Dozens and dozens. Until my mouth is sore and I can taste only you."

"Agreed," Draco stated. "What do you want for the next coin?"

Theodore slipped another thousand Galleon mark into Draco's hand, even as a thrill of anticipation rushed through him. "I want you to… to put your mouth… between my legs, and-" His throat clogged as he envisioned his long-time obsession on his knees before him, mouth and tongue working in conjunction to bring him pleasure. God, it would be a dream come true!

Draco's lips smoothed over his ear again, even has his free hand smoothed down Theodore's hip, reaching between his legs and stroking over his taut length. Theodore jumped from the intimate caress. "You want me to suck your hard cock, don't you? You want me to swallow your come, too, I'll bet."

Theodore's whole body shook. "Merlin, Draco!"

"Answer the question, Theo."

Taking a deep breath, Theodore nodded. "Yes. I want you to suck me deep and to swallow everything I give you."

"Agreed," Draco stated again without any reservation. "Next."

A third coin slipped through Theodore's fingers.

"I want to suck you the same way."

"Do you, now?" Draco asked with a wicked chuckle. "Do you want to taste my come as much as I want to taste yours?"

"Yes," Theodore hissed, liking the thought. He'd dreamed of what Draco would taste like, how his come would feel shooting past his tongue and down this throat. Knowing he'd be the one to bring Draco such pleasure would bring _him _pleasure, too.

Draco hummed with approval, and the vibration strummed down Theodore's spine, emboldening him. He placed another coin down with the others.

"I want you inside me. Deep. All the way."

He put a fifth coin into Draco's palm.

"I want to be inside you like that, too."

A sixth dropped against the others, as a growing possessiveness slowly began to overtake him.

"I want us to fuck everywhere in your private suite, where I know you've never taken anyone. I want to be the first in your bed with you."

"I want you to make me lose control."

"I want you to come all over me and massage it in."

"I want you to tattoo me with magic. It has to be something special to commemorate tonight, a nice image prominently placed, so when I look at it tomorrow or fifty years from now, I'll remember you."

"You mean 'us'," Draco corrected him. "You'll remember _us_ and this night, when you lost every bit of yourself to me."

Theodore nodded. "I'll be yours. Every inch of me will be yours."

He paused before placing the last coin next to the others, knowing it was the most foolish bribe of all. He wanted Draco to fall in love with him, but there was no way to buy another's affections. The fact was Draco didn't love him. They were friends, and that was the best he could expect.

"And the last?" his would-be lover asked, prodding him.

Theodore shook his head, deciding not to say his greatest wish aloud, knowing it was folly. Still, he would pay its toll, as at least he'd been able to buy half of the dream. It seemed fair, after all. "It's just an extra coin to assure you give me everything I want," he lied.

Draco's fingers curled around the pile of glittering gold, but didn't move away. "Be sure about this, Theo, because once it starts, I won't stop until it's finished between us." He smoothed his cheek over Theodore's and then licked at the corner of his lips. "I'll push you to your limits, and make you feel things you've never known before. I'll take my pleasure from you how and where I see fit, and you'll only take yours from me when I allow it." His arm tightened around Theodore's waist, pulling them even closer together. "I won't let you go until it's done, and you'll never be the same after tonight. Neither of us will. I won't have regrets from you." He pressed his nose harder into Theodore's cheek. "So, be abso-_fucking_-lutely sure that you want this with me."

His head swimming with desire, his heart pounding with need, Theodore let out a shaky breath and made his final decision. "I'm sure."

Draco's hand, holding the entirety of Theodore's bank account, moved away and he heard the coins deposited into his friend's trouser pocket, the metal chiming as it collided.

"Then, we have a deal," Draco stated. "That's two."

_Two? What?_

Heart in his throat, Theodore was turned around before he could ask what Draco was on about… and then every thought in his mind took flight and there was no more time for pondering.

Pressed back into the solid wood of the door, Draco closed the distance between them, his body going flush against Theodore's, his erection pressing hard and insistent against him. Caged against his friend's solid form with no escape, Theodore's pulse raced and his breath quickened.

Draco's lips curled with a wicked, sensual smirk as he looked down at Theodore. "You're _mine,"_ he triumphantly growled. "Finally."

With that, he swooped in and stole Theodore's very first kiss with a passion that destroyed his senses, and made what came between them next the sweetest surrender he'd ever known.

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_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_

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_****_**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Exhausted from being ravished throughout the night, Theodore slept until well past noon the following day. When he awoke, his head was full of sand and his whole body ached.

Upon opening his eyes and rubbing away the blurriness, he discovered he was in an unfamiliar bed. The pillow under his head was too soft to be his, and the sheets tangled around his naked hips were of the finest weave, silky and cool against his heated flesh, not the rougher cotton that usually donned his bed. Glancing at the ceiling, he realized he wasn't in his own bedroom. He was…

_Oh, Merlin._

This was Draco's bedroom.

Founders, it hadn't been a dream! It had really happened, hadn't it? He'd had sex with his best friend. And thanks to a clever charm Draco knew, Theodore had fucked and sucked his ever-loving brains out last night, all night long-

-and it had been absolutely glorious.

Sitting up, he winced and groaned, feeling the throbbing pain between his legs and the tenderness of the flesh on his backside, where Draco's belt had doled out its punishments during his instruction in proper submission just hours before. Stones, he hurt all over! But last night had been worth every ache he now felt. It had been complete and total rapture, every moment perfect. He'd come so much, loved so absolutely that he was sure nothing in his future would ever compare.

_"Relax and let me inside."_

He drowned in pleasure at the memory of Draco opening him and taking him over, time and again.

"_Come to me, Theo, and kneel."_

He'd discovered there was pleasure in surrendering his body and will to another.

_"Tell me you love me."_

Theodore had felt his soul had been freed when the words had tumbled from his lips that first time, with Draco's thick, long cock finally seated deep inside his burning body, and their eyes locked on each other as if the world outside didn't exist...

Now though, in the cold light of day, a sinking pit was beginning to open up inside him, leaving Theodore confused: Draco had not once told him that he loved him back. Even as he coaxed, cajoled, and seduced his innocent partner into confessing his feelings over and over again throughout the night, Draco had held that part of himself back, pledging nothing of his own feelings aloud. Why?

Yes, Theodore had gone into last night knowing his partner wouldn't be spouting any love sonnets, but why had Draco insisted that Theodore make himself emotionally vulnerable time and again in such a way? Was the man's ego really that in need of stroking, or did he really just like having that much power over another? He'd _certainly_ enjoyed taking the dominant position in their games, and hadn't seemed to like it as much when he'd been the one on his knees, so perhaps it was all about control for him.

Control in a relationship, Theodore knew, allowed one to maintain an emotional distance.

And speaking of... Peeking through his lids, he was unsurprised to find that he was alone in the bedroom. When he reached out to touch the sheets next to him, he noted that they were cold. Draco had left the bed long ago.

Had the man even stayed five minutes past the time Theodore had fallen asleep in his arms, or had he scampered away as soon as it was clear his partner was out for the count? Theodore was betting the latter, for it was no secret that Draco had commitment issues, and that was the reason Draco had never taken another to his own bed. When the guy had had sex in the past, he'd always talked about it happening elsewhere, in some place impersonal. Doing so had allowed Draco the illusion that he was a free agent, with no strings to tie him down to any one person. It was a detail Theodore had noted years ago, and the exact reason he'd required he be brought here for his own sexual initiation. He didn't want Draco looking at what they were doing as just another experience to add to the man's collection. He'd wanted their love-making to mean something special to both of them.

He was beginning to doubt the wisdom of that plan now, wondering if instead, it had caused Draco some measure of resentment, because he knew that hereafter, there would be no place sacred for the other man to escape his personal demons. They'd tainted Draco's sanctuary with mad, desperate, _purchased_ sex... and a hopeless, one-sided love.

Hell, he'd cocked it all up between them, hadn't he? Worse, he'd managed to bind himself up even tighter to a man who didn't want him in the same way. His feelings for Draco had magnified after having shared so much of his body, mind, and heart with him last night, and Theodore knew there was no way he could go back to them just being friends after this. Every time he'd hear about some sexual escapade that Draco took up with some easily forgotten bint or bloke, Theodore would remember what they'd shared and that he was now included in that same list. It would kill him slowly.

"_...you'll never be the same after tonight."_

Salazar's bane, that prediction! It had come true.

Shite, he had only to look at the "**X**" Draco had tattooed over his heart with his wand to know exactly how terribly, horribly true it was.

Theodore had been marked off of Draco's to-do list, and the man had let the whole world know it in bold, black, permanent ink.

Mortified and grief-stricken, Theodore rolled out of Draco's bed and moved as quickly as his protesting muscles allowed, dressing in silence. Minutes later, he made his way on stealthy feet back to the Drawing Room below, and then quickly used the Floo to return to his flat in London, over ninety miles away.

Distance, he knew, created emotional detachment – something Theodore badly needed just then.

**X~~~~~X**

Almost exactly an hour after Theodore had arrived home, someone set off his flat's front wards.

Fresh from a long, hot shower, with only a towel about his hips, Theodore headed for the front window to peek through the curtain to ascertain his 'guest's' identity.

Holy fuck. It was Draco. And his friend looked seriously angry.

Red was definitely not a good colour for the man.

Aware of the state of his undress, as well as the shaky state of his nerves, Theodore took the coward's way out: he summoning his Patronus and sent it out with a message, asking Draco why he'd come. The wispy shape of a Kneazle bounded through the glass and outside, past the wards. He watched as it delivered his words, and as Draco countered by summoning his own Patronus and sending back a message with it.

_"I told you I wouldn't stop until this is finished between us,"_ Draco's voice came out of the fox's grinning mouth. The magic dissipated as soon as its task was complete.

Theodore's heart started pounding and his mouth went three shades of hot and dry. He summoned his Patronus again and sent it back out, letting Draco know that he'd been under the assumption that their interaction had finished when he'd woken up to an empty bed.

From his hiding spot at the window he watched as Draco's scowl darkened, and the man summoned his Patronus again. It bounded across the empty air between them and crossed through the building in seconds, stopping before him and sitting back on its haunches.

_"You assumed wrong. Let me in and I'll explain."_

When he glanced back out the window, Draco was glaring at him. He tapped his wand against the invisible barrier in a silent command to let him through, his expression one of supreme arrogance, as if he expected to be obeyed.

Theodore closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the glass. Could this really be happening? Had he completely over-thought the situation and misconstrued everything this morning? Or, had he correctly interpreted the situation and Draco was here because he simply hadn't gotten his fill last night?

Honestly, he was afraid to know the real answer.

Another fox came in, glowing with the same incandescence as a ghost.

_"Stop analysing the situation, and lower the bloody wards, Theo."_

Summoning some clothes from his bedroom, Theodore hastily dressed as he dropped the enchantments protecting his home. He'd barely gotten his trousers over his hips by the time the front door had been magically unlocked and thrown open. Draco strolled in, took one look at Theodore as he hastily buttoned and zipped his fly, and pulled the door shut behind him. The click of the lock bolting into place was loud in the silence between them.

"Don't bother. I want you undressed," his lover commanded, reaching for the hem of his own shirt and pulling it out of his slacks, quickly unbuttoning it. "Now,Theo."

Shaking his head, Theodore reached for his shirt, fitting his arms through the sleeves. "I don't believe you have the right to demand such a thing of me," he stated with more bravado than he felt. His insides were quivering with both nervousness and growing arousal.

With a wave of Draco's wand, the shirt was torn from Theodore's hands and tossed across the room.

"The hell I don't," Draco countered, shucking his shirt from his shoulders and dropping it to the floor behind him as he crossed the distance between them. "You're mine, Theo. From the time we were children, we both knew it. You were mine then, you were mine last night, and you're _still _mine today. Every fucking inch of you is mine, and I want you - starting with that smart mouth of yours."

"Go to hell, Draco," Theodore countered, angry at being considered little more than a possession. "We're not children anymore, and I'm certainly not some sex toy you can own, use, and toss away at your discretion! _You_ didn't buy _me_, as I recall, so you have no right-"

He never finished that sentence. His lover moved too fast, and Theodore's limbs were still too tired and sore to dodge with any sort of speed after the night he'd had. Before he could react, he was dragged to the carpet, and his mouth was once again enslaved by Draco's fierce, commanding insistence.

There was no finesse to the kiss. It was an angry claim of ownership, pure and simple, and it demanded Theodore's submission to the idea.

A whimper of denial escaped his throat, even as his hands tightened on Draco's shoulders and pulled him in, closing the gap between their bodies. Pressed intimately together, Theodore bore Draco's weight without complaint, arching his hips so their matching erections were forced together. His partner groaned in approval, and reached down to pull Theodore's leg up and over his hip to give them a better angle and friction.

"This makes three times you've made me desperate to have you in some way," Draco grunted as he ground his pelvis into Theodore's. "This time, though, I'm not going to be placated with a bribe."

_Three times. Ah, so that explained the counting thing…_

"This time, I'm going to stripe your arse, just as I wanted to the first two times you challenged me," Draco warned.

"What makes you think I'm going to let you belt me again?" Theodore asked. "And what slight did I commit this time to deserve such a punishment?"

"You dared to get out of my bed without my permission."

"But… our night was up. You gave me everything we'd agreed to – everything I paid you for." Theodore tilted his head and let Draco suck and nibble on his throat. "And frankly, I wasn't going to hang around waiting for you to kick me out while you moved on to the next conquest."

Draco stilled above him, pulling his mouth away. "Was that all it meant to you? Buy the man-whore and see if the rumours were all true? You told me you loved me!"

He sounded accusatory... and hurt.

Tears filled Theodore's eyes. It was too much. Too many years of wanting this, of watching this man fuck his way through partners without a care, of denying himself any sexual pleasure in the wishful hopes that someday, maybe Draco would want him back, and of finally having him, but only as a result of having paid for the privilege... it all swept over him, pulling him under.

"Does it matter? You don't love me back," he whispered, raw and aching. He shut his eyes to the hot drip as his tears fell. "It's just sex to you. I'm just like everyone else who's ever loved you."

Shite, he felt like a first-rate pussy... but he was so tired, and so very hurt by the truth.

Draco's fingers gently turned his head, so Theodore was forced to blink through his beaded lashes up at him. His lover's face was scrunched with a matching agony.

"You're not like _anyone_ else, Theo. Not to me." His voice was hoarse with emotion. "You're… what I want." He bent his head and placed tender kisses along Theodore's lips and chin. His mouth lowered, trailing wet, sweet kisses in a path towards his heart. He traced the "**X**" tattoo with his tongue. "Since we were children, your stubbornness and your surrender is everything I've ever wanted. No one else infuriates and arouses me at the same time, like you do. I thought you understood that by now."

"Apparently not."

Because, really, Theodore hadn't know his best friend burned for him in the same way he did for Draco.

"And everyone always said you were the 'smart one'," Draco commented, as he continued on his way down the long length of Theodore's body. His lover's fingers made quick work of the button and zip that Theodore had earlier hurried to do up, and then Draco dropped his head and picked right back up where they'd left off earlier that morning.

**X~~~~~X**

Draco was wrapped around Theodore in the aftermath of their rough, desperate love-making, refusing to give him any sort of distance to calm his racing heart and mind. Pale arms and strong legs held tight to Theodore, refusing to allow him to get away.

Theodore's hands shook as the last of the sexual adrenaline left his system. Merlin, he was a mess inside and out. His hair was dishevelled and plastered to his forehead from sweat. His trousers were tangled up with Draco's down around their crossed ankles. And he was covered in bruises; fingertip-shaped marks donned his hips and upper arms, and love bites decorated his neck on both sides, his chest above his heart, and the insides of his thighs. He'd been well and truly owned once more by Draco-

-and there was no doubt any longer that walking away again from this wasn't going to happen. His lover wouldn't let it, and honestly, Theodore didn't think he had the strength to brave trying one more time.

"Why did you come here?" he asked, resigned to his fate.

There really was no going back to the way things had been between them yesterday afternoon, just as Draco had predicted. There was no going forward either, though, as Theodore knew that someday in the not-too-distant future, Draco would marry the witch his parents had picked out for him. He'd then suffer in silence as his best friend bound his life up to some woman he hardly knew… knowing that it was only a matter of time after that before things returned to platonic between them, if not sooner, for no self-respecting pure-blood witch would allow her husband to keep a man, even in secret, on the side. Children would inevitably follow, and the distance between he and his best friend would further widen, until Theodore was relegated to the role of "Uncle", and invited over only on special occasions.

As if sensing the dark turn that his lover's thoughts had run, Draco fisted a handful of Theodore's hair and, with gentle pressure, pulled until Theodore's neck lolled back and their eyes met. "I told you I wouldn't let you go until it was finished between us." His cloud-grey, lazy dragon eyes stared into Theodore's soul as he slowly leaned forward until their lips touched. "By my count, you still have seven chances before I get serious and permanently strap you to my bed."

Theodore frowned at that. Seven, huh? "So, you're counting backwards from ten, not forwards from zero? Why?"

"Because ten is our number," Draco told him, licking over Theodore's mouth, teasing, coaxing him to come out and play. "If you think about it, I'm sure it'll come to you why."

Theodore nodded in understanding. "Ten months, ten years, ten coins... Somehow, the number's always brought us together, despite the distances between us." He gasped, as another realisation dawned on him. "The tattoo - it's the Roman numeral for 'ten'!"

A wicked, amused chuckle escaped Draco's lips. "Let me guess: you thought it meant I'd crossed you off my to-do list?"

Theodore flushed from head-to-toe with embarrassment for not having put it together sooner... and for Draco knowing him well enough to have been correct. "Shut up, you great ponce." Using the advantage of the angle he was currently in, he rolled them so Draco was under him, and kicked off his slacks so that he was free to move as he wanted. Pressing his growing arousal against Draco's, he whispered, "Gotcha."

Lying back in the dark green carpet, Draco stared up at him in first surprise, and then with sinful heat. "I told you once before: I don't mind."

"Which remind me: you still owe me ten Sickles," Theodore said, recalling the memory of the money that had been blackmailed from him and then lost in the grass that afternoon ten years prior.

"I'll work it off," his lover pronounced with a full-body stretch and a lusty sigh. "Tell me what you want."

Theodore did better than that. He showed him.

It took only ten deep, slow thrusts and a handful of kisses, and then they were both coming together.

Ten heartbeats after that, Draco told Theodore that he loved him, too.

* * *

_**TO BE CONCLUDED...**_

* * *

_****_**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**One more chapter, my lovelies, then this tale will reach its end. **

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**X~~~~~X**

**'X' is just to mark the spot.**

**X~~~~~X**

_**10 October, 2010**_

"Thank you, Astoria."

Draco's wife shook her head, and smiled. "I'm just glad you're home early. I was tired of the dragon with the sore tooth act." She sounded exasperated, but was smiling. "I swear he's the biggest baby when it comes to catching colds."

Theodore nodded. Yes, his lover was definitely all that - and more - whenever he so much as caught the sniffles. "I'll take it from here." He started heading up the grand staircase into the residential wing he and Draco shared, but stopped on the first landing. "Are Lucius and Narcissa back with Scorpius, yet?"

From below, Astoria's blonde, coifed head shook left to right. "They decided to stay in Milan with the Zabinis until Draco's better. You know how they are."

Theodore snorted in amusement. Yes, he did, indeed. The elder Malfoys were overprotective of their grandson in a way they had never been with Draco, as if they were afraid that the boy would somehow inherit his father's penchant for hedonism at the tender age of five. They were, however, well on their way to creating a little monster in the doing, as they overindulged Scorpius as much, if not more than, they ever had their son.

"I'll have Nippy bring up some soup in an hour," Astoria called after him as Theodore turned and jogged the flight of stairs to the top.

The woman was a goddess, giving him advanced warning like that.

Truthfully, Astoria had been completely not what Theodore had expected seven years ago when Draco and he had finally decided it was time for him to carry on with his familial duties. Having known her sister, he'd expected the younger Greengrass to be as demanding and entitled as her older sibling. To his pleasant surprise, Draco's wife had been the exact opposite. She was also tolerant, fair, and more than understanding and accommodating to her husband's relationship with Theodore. Of course, that was because she'd been carrying on a love affair with Adrian Pucey since she'd been seventeen and hadn't wanted the marriage to Draco any more than he'd wanted it.

When the two of them had decided to go ahead with the pre-arranged bonding ceremony to prevent the financial and magical penalties described in their pre-nuptial agreement, she and Draco had agreed theirs would be a marriage of convenience. The only requirement placed upon them by the contract was at least one child be born between them at some point within the first five years of their marriage. They'd taken it further in verbally agreeing that their son or daughter be raised equally by them as well, as both felt it was important to have a role in their child's life.

So, just as Theodore had predicted, he'd stood at his lover's side and watched as the man he loved with his whole heart and soul traded his bachelorhood away for duty's sake. And he'd cried in the loo in secret after the ceremony, prior to the reception, believing it was the beginning of the end for him and Draco.

What he hadn't expected was that their relationship wouldn't be ending at that altar. Draco had made that point crystal clear…

Theodore had lost another number to Draco the same night the wedding had taken place, as a consequence of attempting to step aside and do the right thing. He'd been taught a lesson in how self-sacrifice wasn't in the Slytherin code, but something only "nancy Hufflepuffs and idiotic Gryffindors" did, according to his lover. His arse had been sore for several days after that reminder… and he'd floated on clouds the entire time, relieved to know that things wouldn't change simply because of a little ceremony and some paperwork.

Scorpius arrived almost two years later, but not even his birth could sever the ties that so strongly bound Theodore to Draco. Instead, he had become, as he'd expected, "Uncle Theo", but the place reserved for him in his lover's bed had not changed. He'd even had a hand in raising the little pip, finding that fatherhood came naturally to him.

Yes, things had worked out better than Theodore had ever expected.

Well, except for whenever Draco was sick. The man was absolutely the worst patient this side of the moon.

He paused at the door to the bedroom he shared with Draco, steeling himself for the pouting, snarling, and snapping to come, knowing that once it was all over and his lover was well, he'd be able to get in a little "punishment time" with Draco on his own terms,

Theodore pushed open the door. "I'm home," he called out.

"About fucking time!" Draco growled, and let out a wet cough. "I'm dying here, Theo. Come take care of me!"

Rolling his eyes at the drama, Theodore moved to his lover's side to begin administering some home-made comfort-

-and within ten minutes, he was doing his own version of counting.

_**~FIN~**_


End file.
